Rebuilding Manchester United. Again.

Karan Ahgun

— 5 min read
Rebuilding Manchester United. Again.

The dire situation at Manchester United has been well-documented both on and off the pitch this season. The season is well and truly over for United, so let's look ahead to what the club can do in the summer to get onto an upwards trajectory.

Departures will be key for United this summer, particularly when you consider the club's poor financial situation. The departure of 4 free agents in Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton will guarantee United some wage space to play with in terms of incoming transfers. This wage space could be bolstered by the probable sales of players who are on loan at the moment. Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Antony are all on relatively high wages, so removing them from the balance sheet would be beneficial for the club from a financial point of view. Other high earners like Casemiro, Mason Mount and Luke Shaw should be on the chopping block as they do not offer anything to the team whether that be through a lack of availability or a massive deterioration in performances. It will be especially difficult to sell these 3 players though, so United will need to get creative with loan deals with options/obligations to buy. In terms of extra income from transfers, the sale of academy talents like Mainoo and Garnacho will provide the club with pure profit on the balance sheets but their sales will not go down well with the fanbase.

The area which needs the most aid for United is in attack. Both Hojlund and Zirkzee have flattered to deceive in front of goal and it's clear that the club needs to recruit a striker once again. Hojlund's performances this season have been particularly disappointing, especially after showing some promise in stages of last season. The most damning stat on Hojlund came from the FA Cup game against Fulham and it stated that Chido Obi had 3 big chances in just one game, whilst Hojlund has the same number in 22 Premier League games. In terms of incomings, the striker market is quite limited in terms of finding a player who can guarantee at least 20 goals a season. The most obvious candidates are Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres, with both having release clauses that can be activated in the summer. Osimhen would be the better fit for United but would command wages of £250k a week, meaning that United would need to plan their budget carefully.

Another deal which is very likely to be completed is a deal for Geovany Quenda from Sporting to play at right wingback. We have seen how important wingbacks are to Amorim's style of play, especially with the acquisition of Patrick Dorgu in the January transfer window. Amorim has played a few different players at wingback and the team's best performances have come when attacking players play in these positions. Amad has been a top performer in the wingback position but a lack of players in attack forced Amorim to play the Ivorian in a more advanced position before his injury. Playing defenders at wingback such as Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui has been painful to watch for United fans and contributes to the dire state of the team's attacking play. Bringing in Quenda will provide the team with a player who is well accustomed to the manager's system and someone who is on the front foot with the potential to carry a serious threat to the opposition.

Ruben Amorim will also be hoping to recruit more quality in other positions, with players who can adapt to the physicality and speed of the Premier League quickly. United will likely need to purchase another centre back because of the departures of Lindelof and Evans but also as there is a question mark over Lisandro Martinez's long-term future after his recent knee injury. The club could go back in for Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite as they did last summer or could turn to someone like Zeno Debast from Sporting, who's had an impressive season so far. In terms of midfielders, younger players with room to improve are likely to be targeted due to the club's financial constraints. An example would be Middlesbrough's Hayden Hackney, who under the tutelage of Michael Carrick, has started to impress in the Championship. Finally, goalkeeper will be another position in which Amorim will want reinforcements. The performances of Andre Onana have been severely underwhelming and it feels like he's making at least one massive mistake in every game he plays. As with the striker position, there are not many options in the market so United may have to go for a stopgap for now who is a good shot-stopper and doesn't make too many mistakes. Aaron Ramsdale and James Trafford could become options for United on cheaper deals, until the right goalkeeper comes on the market.

Manchester United have a massive job on their hands to rebuild their squad once again. After years of financial mismanagement and haphazard player recruitment, the current team is in disarray and are in need of a revolution. Wholesale changes are not going to come cheap though, so United will need to rely on good scouting to find players who can have an impact at good prices. The process will definitely take time but there should still be a demand for a massive improvement in performances going into next season!

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